Will County Gazette

City of Joliet Mayor Terry D’Arcy, along with members of the Joliet City Council, state and county elected officials, family members, city staff, and community members will gather to honor Staff Sergeant Jose Dueñez Jr. The ceremony will take place on Friday, July 11, 2025, at 11:00 a.m. at the corner of Albert Avenue and Wilson Avenue in Joliet.

Albert Avenue will be officially renamed “SSG Jose Dueñez Jr. Way” in memory of the Joliet native who was one of four U.S. Army soldiers killed in a training accident in Lithuania in mid-April. SSG Dueñez would have turned 26 on April 8 and is survived by his wife and their one-year-old son. He enlisted in the U.S. Army after graduating from high school in 2017.

Reports from the U.S. Army indicate that SSG Dueñez and three fellow soldiers were assigned to the 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division at Fort Stewart. They went missing on March 25 while deployed in Lithuania for Operation Atlantic Resolve. Their bodies were later found submerged inside their armored vehicle.

The City of Joliet is located in Will and Kendall counties, Illinois, about 30 miles southwest of Chicago. It is the county seat of Will County and had a population of 150,362 according to the 2020 census.

For more information about the city or this event, contact Rosemaria DiBenedetto at rdibenedetto@joliet.gov or call her cell at 847-269-5556.